Master of Science in Economics

By Leon Berry,2014-04-30 08:00

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Master of Science in EconomicsMast

Master of Science in Economics

School of Business, Economics & Law

Göteborg University

120 ECTS

The 2-years Master of Science programme in Economics is designed in order to meet the increasing demand for professionals with top quality skills in the private sector as well as international organizations and the public sector, in Sweden and all over the world. A recent study showed that the largest shares of students that have specialized in economics in Göteborg are working in the private sector, and many of them are working abroad. Moreover, most of them have demanding advanced position where they make use of the skills they have achieved during the education. The unemployment rate among graduated from Göteborg is very low.

The Master of Science education implies an additional step compared to the bachelor education in economics. It provides both a deeper analytical education in general as well as better opportunities to specialize and achieve practically useful skills. In a knowledge-based society, a bachelor’s degree is often not sufficient to compete for the most attractive jobs, and to have a good Masters degree becomes more and more often a necessity. The Master courses aim to impart deeper knowledge and understanding, including awareness about economic conditions and developing tendencies, thereby enabling the student to apply economic theory as well as concrete empirical tools, including various software programs, to critically analyze current problems.

The learning objectives of the programme are:

1.Students of economics should be able to apply insights from economic theory in

order to understand observed behaviour and policies. Moreover, they should

understand the theories sufficiently well in order to understand their limitations.

More specifically, they should be able to:

a.Analyze consumer and firm behaviour at various institutions such as the

market and the household

b.Become an expert in one substantive area of economics, such as

industrial or development economics as described further below.

2.Students of economics should be able to apply econometric and statistical

techniques appropriate for decision making in business and government. More

specifically, they should be able to:

a.Identify, assess and gather the necessary information.

b.Employ relevant quantitative methods and interpret the results.

c.Understand what we can learn from the results, as well as understand

what we cannot learn, i.e. the limitations of the analysis.

3.Students of economics should be able to effectively communicate the results of

their economic analysis. More specifically, they should be able to :

a.Write clear, concise and well-disposed reports, including the presentation

of quantitative analyses

b.Present the results orally in a clear and convincing way

c.Participate constructively in discussions

Department of Economics

Handelshögskolan vid Göteborgs universitet, Box 600, 405 30 Göteborg

The programme has a number of tracks. The final decision on which tracks that will be given next semester is not done ye. Each track contains a number of core courses aimed to provide the student with a deep understanding of the specific field. Moreover, there is also much individual freedom to choose courses in order to obtain a tailor-made and unique education within each track.

Environmental Economics

Environmental economics is a subfield of economics concerned with environmental and

natural resource issues, and its importance has increased rapidly within the last few decades. Topics in environmental economics consequence for society of environmental problems, how should society address environmental problems, technology adoption, and links between development and the environment. The environmental economics track emphasizes analytical and decision-making skills and provides graduates with many career alternatives in the private as well as in the public sector. The Environmental Economics Unit at the Department is the largest research unit in environmental economics within Sweden and one of the largest in Europe.

Health Economics

Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to scarcity in the health markets. Topics related to various aspects of health economics include the meaning and measurement of health status, the production of health and health care, the demand for health and health services, health economic evaluation, health insurance, the analysis of health care markets, health care financing, and hospital economics. The programme offers strong analytical skills and is a qualification which furthers career opportunities in national and international health agencies and in the pharmaceutical industry.

Industrial Economics

Industrial Economics includes entrepreneurship, the economics of innovation, the economics of pricing and decision making, the economics of organization, the economics of regulation, corporate restructuring, and economic policy making. The track seeks to acquaint the students with models of strategic interaction between firms in the marketplace, and students will be learned to independently recognize the relevant market structure and understand its implications for market performance.

Public Economics

The goal of this track is to educate tomorrow's leaders who have skills in: (i) analyzing various policy issues in tax system, social security system, local public finance, and other areas of public policies, based on deep understanding of the public economics; and (ii) designing politically implementable public policies to improve the quality of our life under the resource constraint of our society.

Department of Economics

Handelshögskolan vid Göteborgs universitet, Box 600, 405 30 Göteborg

Development Economics

Development economics deals both with issues in developing countries and issues related to relationships between developing and developed countries. It includes topics such as international trade, fiscal and monetary policy, agricultural economics and policy, and aid policy. Development economists often work in international organizations, development agencies and NGOs.

Historical Economics

Historical economics is an approach to the study of economic history that makes explicit use of economic theory and statistical methods. Economic behaviour takes place in specific historical and institutional settings. By studying historical economics the student’s understanding of the relevance and limitations of economic models for the study of real world problems is enhanced. Typical themes are the advent and spread of industrialization and market integration, institutional change, and historical processes of global income divergence and convergence. The track is a suitable background for those interested in working as analysts in international, private and public organizations. The track is organized jointly with the department of Economic History.

Organization

The faculty at the Department of Economics is recognized for their research and education on important policy areas such as the energy sector, the environment and developing countries. Training in Economics improves the analytical skill and logical reasoning and it also improves the understanding of how society works. Theses skills are useful in a wide variety of occupational fields, including general business, government, law, banking and insurance.

The programme has a programme coordinator, Associate professor Fredrik Carlsson. For each track there is one coordinator mainly responsible for curriculum development:

The programme covers four academic semesters of full-time study, including three semesters of courses (90 ECTS) and one semester of thesis writing (30 ECTS). The content of the programme depends on the track but the content of the first semester is the same for all tracks. The following tracks are planned to be given:

Master of Science in Economics with specialization in Environmental Economics ;

;Master of Science in Economics with specialization in Health Economics

;Master of Science in Economics with specialization in Industrial Economics

;Master of Science in Economics with specialization in Public Economics

;Master of Science in Economics with specialization in Development Economics

;Master of Science in Economics with specialization in Historical Economics

For each track there are two to four core (compulsory) courses (7.5 ECTS) in addition to the thesis. Students can choose elective courses from this programme, or from other programmes at Göteborg University. They can also choose core courses as electives to the extent that they are not core courses in their chosen track. Students must accumulate a total of 120 credit points, of which at least 90 credit points are courses in economics (including methodological courses such as mathematics and statistics and the thesis). For each track certain elective courses will be recommended. In particular this concerns courses given at other departments. It should also be mentioned that the programme is integrated with the Master of Science in Finance programme and the Masters of Science in Environmental Sciences at the school. Furthermore, the Public Economics track is suitable for integration with the Masters of Science in Marketing and Governance programme. Students in finance at the department of Mathematics will also participate in parts of our programme.

Collaboration with other disciplines within School of Business, Economics and Law is planned for each track. For example, within the track Environmental Economics, students

should take a course in Environmental Law at the Law Department etc. The details and exact timings of these collaborations are yet to be developed, however. We are also collaborating with the department of Political Science, where one joint course will be given: the quality of governance in a comparative perspective.

Furthermore, collaboration is planned with both the private and the public sector as well as with international organisations in order to identify topics of interest for the courses and the thesis. The purpose is to make sure that the students are appropriately prepared for a professional role outside the academia and also to help the students to establish valuable contacts. For example, within the track Health Economics, the company AstraZeneca will be invited to a discussion about topics of particular relevance to the pharmaceutical industry.

Studies abroad during the programme is encouraged and supported. It is possible to study abroad during any of the semesters, except the first one.

Tuition and examination

Department of Economics

Handelshögskolan vid Göteborgs universitet, Box 600, 405 30 Göteborg

The whole programme is in English, including the thesis. Courses include lectures, case studies, computer labs and exercises. The examination is both in terms of written and oral exams, as well as written handed-in papers.

In each course, the students will receive either a High Pass, Pass or Fail. The grades will then also be translated to the ECTS grade system. Thus, the students will automatically receive their grades in both grading systems.

A student who has failed an examination twice has the right to demand another examiner from the Faculty Board.

Admission requirements

General Entrance Requirements

The applicant must hold the minimum of a Bachelor’s degree (i.e. the equivalent of 180 ECTS credits at an accredited university). The basic credit point requirement that should be contained within the applicant’s university education must include a minimum of ECTS 60 credit points in economics, 7.5 ECTS credit points in econometrics, or corresponding skills obtained from courses in statistics, and a thesis, term paper or equivalent proof of proficiency in academic writing. Students applying for the Historical Economics track are in addition required to have at least 30 credit points in Historical Economics.

The above requirements concern admission to the programme. For studies within the programme there might be course specific requirements. These are given in the syllabus for each course.

English Proficiency Requirements

The applicant must prove English proficiency by one of the following: ;TOEFL iBT (internet based) test result of at least 100 points

;TOEFL (computer based) test result of at least 250 points

;TOEFL (paper based) test result of at least 600 points

;IELTS test result of at least 6.0, including at least 6.5 for the Writing.

This requirement does not apply to students with a Bachelors degree from an English speaking university, or to students having passed English level B at the Swedish Upper Secondary School.

Selection

The selection process is based on grades from the bachelor degree, the profile of courses taken, the thesis quality, and interviews.